USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > The early history of the First church of Christ, New London, Conn. > Part 11
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John Rogers was in trouble, and kept every one else in trouble who had any dealings with him, till he died, October 17, 1721. He was buried on his- Mamacock farm, on the banks of the Thames. The sect which he founded has always had its home in New London county. It is said that their numbers have remained about the same as at the beginning to
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THE ROGERENES.
this day. The violent opposition to the established order which they manifested at the first seemed to subside after the death of their founder. With the exception of a year and a half during the ministry of Mather Byles, they seem to have lived peaceably with all men. Their bitter hatred of a paid ministry, and . of houses of worship which were peculiar to Roger- enes two centuries ago, are no longer true of them. The principal society now is in Ledyard. The fol- lowing is from the pen of Rev. John Avery, who was pastor in Ledyard, and speaks from personal knowl- edge:
"The Rogerene Quakers have for many years lived in the southeast part of Ledyard, and have there constituted a com- munity quite isolated in some respects from the people dwell- ing about them. They have their own views of religion. their own meeting house, their own modes of worship, their own Sabbath school, and their own ways of doing things generally. They are in the main industrious, peaceable and honest, and inclined to let other people have their own ways, provided that other people will let them have theirs. Formerly they refused to have anything to do with politics ; refused to go to the polls to vote ; refused to pay taxes ; refused to bear arms. Some of these peculiarities have in recent years been partially laid aside.
"In the War of the Rebellion some of their young men enlisted as soldiers, and several laid down their lives in their country's service. The children are now educated in the pub- lic schools, and several of the young people have become suc- cessful teachers. Quite a number of their young men, and young women, too, have married into other than Quaker fam- ilies. The result of this has been that considerable numbers have, in a measure, at least, broken away from the Quaker faith.
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190 EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
"The old-time prejudice against churches and ministers, though still retained by some, is slowly wearing off with the rising generation. Whenever a marriage ceremony is to be celebrated, generally a clergyman is called in to officiate. At funerals also a minister of the gospel is generally requested to take charge of the service. They are strongly opposed to war, and have for many years been putting forth strenuous efforts to promote universal peace among men."
This modern picture of these people presents them in a far different and more winsome light than the history of their carlier years.
X.
GURDON SALTONSTALL'S PASTORATE.
Nov. 25, 1691 -- Jan. 1, 1708.
The interval between the death of Mr. Bradstreet, and the coming of Mr. Saltonstall, was occupied with attempts to secure a pastor. A committee was ap- pointed November 19, 1683 as follows : " Voted that Major John Winthrop, Major Edward Palmes, Capt. James Avery, Mr. Daniel Wetherell, Mr. Christo Christophers, Tho. Beebe, Joseph Coite, John Prentis Sen", Clemeant Miner, Charles Hill, are ap- pointed a committee in behalf of the town to send a letter to Capt. Wayte Winthrop to the reverend Mr. Mather and Mr. Woollard [Willard] ministers at boston for there advice and counsell in attayneing a minister for the towne to supply the place of Mr. Bradstreet deceased, and that sd Capt. Winthrop shall have instructions from the sd committee to man- adge that affaire wth them." Not until June of the following year was their quest successful, when the committee reported that they had secured the services of Mr. Edward Oakes of Cambridge, Mass. The
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
town voted to approve the acts of the committee, and to give Mr. Oakes a salary of £100 a year " for so long a time as he and they could agree together." Probably this was the Edward Oakes, who graduated from Harvard college in the class of 1679, and who was the son of Rev. Urian Oakes, who had been president of the college. He preached here about a year, and steps were taken towards his settlement. But the people were not unanimous in their desire to have him remain, and he left the Church and the town. It is said that he died young ; probably not long after his departure from New London.
In September, 1685, shortly after Mr. Oakes had gone, the committee secured the services of Mr. Thomas Barnet. He soon arrived on the ground with his family, and entered upon his duties. So sat- isfactory were his services that, in November of that year, the town voted to accept his ministry. Again December 26th the following vote was passed : " Mr. Thomas Barnet by full consent none contradicting was accepted by the inhabitants to be their minister."' In other words he received an unanimous call to be the pastor of the Church. The vote continues, " Major John Winthrop is chosen to appear as the mouth of the Town to declare their acceptance of Mr. Barnet." "The time for ye solemnity of Mr. Bar- net's admittance to all ministerial offices is left to the
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SALTONSTALL'S PASTORATE.
direction of Mr. Barnett and the townsmen to ap- point the day." For some unknown reason he was never ordained, and his ministry here, after a brief period came to an end. His name does not appear again on the records, save in a bill for sixteen shil- lings, presented by Jonathan Prentis, "for going with Mr. Barnett to Swansea." Why an arrange- ment which promised so well, and was so mutually satisfactory, fell through, is nowhere explained. He was an English clergyman, and, like Mr. Peters and Mr. Blinman, had been ejected from his living, and driven from England for non-conformity, by the rig- orous measures which followed the restoration of the house of Stuart to the throne. Like Mr. Peters he may have been recalled to England. This would ex- plain his sudden departure from New London. His ministry extended into 1686, and may have occupied a considerable portion of it.
June 22, 1687, the town was again assembled to deliberate upon the question of the "best ways and means for procuring an able minister of the gospel." A committee of seven, with Hon. Fitz-John Win- throp at its head, was chosen. After a few months they secured the services of Mr. Gurdon Saltonstall, a young man, of great promise, who had graduated from Harvard college three years and a half before. This young man came to New London upon the invi-
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tation of the committee, and preached during the winter of 1687-8 with so great acceptance that he soon won all the hearts and votes of the people. Consequently in May, 1688, he received an unani- mous request, by vote of the town, to continue among them in the work of the ministry. That is, he re- ceived a call to settle in the pastorate of the Church. They promised to give him due encouragement ; which doubtless meant ample pecuniary support. The amount of the salary is not given, but it was probably not less than had been paid his predecessor-" £120 a year in provision pay."
The call was accepted. For the town voted that " on his return from Boston, whither he is shortly going, they will proceed to have him ordained." For some unknown reason his ordination did not take place till November 25, 1691. The interval between this event and the death of Mr. Bradstreet, in August, 1683, was over eight years. But he continued to preach after he came till he was ordained, so that the actual interval between the two ministries was but a little over four years. His ministrations met with universal acceptance, as appears from the fact that the vote of May, 1688, accepting his ministry, or calling him to the pastorate, was repeated June 7, 1689. Evidently the reason for delay in his ordina- tion was with himself. For August 25, 1691, at a
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SALTONSTALL'S PASTORATE.
town-meeting, at which sixty-five persons, who were heads of families, were present, the votes of 1688 and 1689 were reaffirmed, and a committee was ap- pointed to make arrangements with Mr. Saltonstall for his ordination, and it was " voted that Hon. Major General John Winthrop is to appear as the mouth of the Town at Mr. Saltonstall's ordination, to declare the Town's acceptance of him to the ministry."
In the records of the Church is this entry, "Nov. 19, '91, G. Saltonstall was received into this Church." He is the only pastor whose name appears on its list of members, till Rev. Edward W. Bacon. Six days later, November 25, the following minute was entered on the records in Mr. Saltonstall's hand, "The rec- ords of the Church kept by G. Saltonstall from Nov. 25, 1691, who was on that day ordained minister there by Mr. Eliot and Mr. Timothy Woodbridge." Rev. Joseph Eliot, of Guilford, and Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, of Hartford, are probably the men referred to. Thus at the age of twenty-six years, lacking four months, Gurdon Saltonstall became pas- tor of the First Church, which office he held and filled with great ability till he was chosen Governor to succeed his distinguished parishioner, the Hon. Fitz- John Winthrop.
He filled so large a place, and was so conspicuous a figure in the history of this Church, the town and
196 EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
the Colony, that we may pause here to enquire who he was and from whom he was descended. His great-grandfather was Richard Saltonstall, Sr., who was born at Halifax, England, in 1586, and was nephew of Sir Richard Saltonstall, who was at one time Lord Mayor of London. He was also one of the original patentees of the Connecticut Colony, of which his great-grandson was to be Governor. He came to Massachusetts with John Winthrop, Sr., as his assistant, in 1630. He returned to England the next year, where he filled several important positions under the Crown. In 1644 he was sent as an ambas- sador to Holland. In 1649 he was one of the judges of the court which passed sentence of death upon the Duke of Hamilton, Lord Capel and others for high treason. He died in England in 1658, at the age of seventy-two.
His son Richard, Jr., the grandfather of Gurdon, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1610. He en- tered the University of Cambridge in 1627, at the age of seventeen. As he came to Massachusetts with his father in 1630, he evidently did not com- plete the full course of four years at the University. He settled in Ipswich, Mass., where he resided till 1672, when he returned to England, where he died April 29, 1694.
His son Nathaniel, the father of Gurdon, a council-
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lor of some note, was born at Ipswich, Mass., in 1639. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1659. He settled in Haverhill, Mass., where he died May 21, 1707.
His son, Gurdon Saltonstall, was born at Haver- hill, March 27, 1666. He appears to have entered Harvard College at the age of fourteen. For he graduated in 1684, at the age of eighteen. He studied theology rather than the law, which was the profession of his father. Probably he pursued his theological course under the tutelage of some clergy- man, since there were no schools of the prophets. He had the best of blood in his veins. By birth he was an aristocrat. He got his name, Gurdon, from his grandmother, who was Muriel Gurdon. Lucy Downing wrote from Watertown, Mass., to John Winthrop, Jr., June 22, 1633, as follows: "Last night Mr. Gurden came to me to desire my house for his lodging, and his daughter is to be married next week to Sir Richard Saltonstall's son." This young pastor of the First Church of Christ gave promise of a distinguished career, which, as we shall see, was amply fulfilled.
As introducing the story of this pastorate, two or three facts may be noticed. The question of secur- ing the minister's salary was a perplexing one. It had been raised by assessing the "minister's rates "
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
upon the grand list. This had become so odious that an attempt was made about this time to secure it by voluntary subscription. A paper was circulated. One hundred and five subscriptions were obtained, embracing names scattered over the whole township, " from Nahantic Bay to Mystic, and from Poquetan- nuck to the Sound." Only £57 were pledged. The sum was entirely insufficient, and the plan was aban- doned.
The Bradstreet meeting house had not been fur- nished with seats as late as 1690. In that year a levy was made for the purpose of completing the interior of the building. A committee, consisting of the townsmen, or selectmen, with Ensign Clement Miner, and Sergeant Thomas Beeby, was then appointed to assign seats. This was sometimes an affair of no small magnitude. In doubtful cases of precedence it was often necessary for the town to interfere and decide between two contending parties. At this time but one case was reported for adjustment. The vote stands as follows: "Joseph Beckwith having paid 40s. towards finishing the meeting house, is allowed a seat in the 4th seat, and his wife also in the 4th seat, on the woman's side." Similar votes at later periods show that this supervision of the town contin- ued for a considerable time. The vote was always mandatory; sometimes peremptory. With a law
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making attendance upon the services of the Church obligatory, and with the town to say how much a man should pay and where he should sit, there ought to have been little solicitude about an audience, no anx- iety lest men should quarrel over the possession of a given pew, and no fears about the finances of the Church. However, it does not seem to have been any smoother sailing then than now.
The entrance of Mr. Saltonstall upon his duties as pastor of the Church was signalized by the purchase of a large brass bell, for which the sum of £25 cur- rent money was paid. This was the first bell in the town, and in New London county. It took the place of the drum, which had hitherto called the people together for public worship and town meeting. William Chapman was the sexton. To his annual salary of £3, forty shillings were added as compensa- tion for ringing the bell.
When Mr. Saltonstall came to New London the colonies were full of alarm, because of the ambitious attempts of Sir Edmund Andros to deprive them of their liberties. The career on which the young pastor entered at his ordination was not a thornless one. From the day when he was made the minister of the Church, till the day when he died as Governor of the Colony, he encountered difficulties and oppositions which were calculated to try the stuff of which he
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
was made. How well he stood the test, the story of his life will tell.
Upon coming to New London, assisted by a gratu- ity voted him by the town, he bought a lot, and built a house for himself on Main street, nearly opposite .the bridge leading across the cove to East New Lon- . don. Like himself his dwelling was conspicuous, at least for situation. The meeting house in the town square was not far back of his dwelling. His lot was bounded in the rear by the Codner highway, or "old pathway leading from the meeting-house to the mill." This had been closed, but was reopened by the town for his convenience. This reopened pathway is now known as "Stony Hill." A gate, opening into it from his grounds, brought him within a few rods of the church. A chronicler of those times relates that he might be seen, on a Sunday morning, issuing from this garden gate, in the rear of his house, and ascend- ing the steep declivity, with slow and majestic step, to the meeting house, with his wife by his side, while his three sons and four daughters, followed by the household servants, brought up the rear. The pro- cession was specially imposing after he became Gov- ernor of the Colony.
After his death, his son, General Gurdon Salton- stall, continued his father's procession to the house
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of God on the hill; only his retinue of sons and daughters was fourteen.
The Church received no accessions between the- death of Mr. Bradstreet and the ordination of Mr. Saltonstall. In the interval of eight years the mem- bership decreased from about seventy to thirty-three. During his ministry one hundred and forty-one were admitted into the Church, whose names are given on the list. This is not a large number-less than ten a year. But when we consider the facts the number gains in significance. The population of those days was sparse, and there were fewer people from whom to recruit the ranks of the Church. The Half-way Covenant, with its disastrous effects upon the spirit- ual life of the Church, was in full practice. The Rogerene movement had gained full force. The era of modern revivals had not yet dawned. Not until half a century later did a great awakening visit the Churches of New England. In view of all the facts we must regard the number of accessions as far from small.
At the date of his ordination Mr. Saltonstall made this entry on the records of the Church : " Nov. 25, 1691. Names of members in full communion." He then gives the following list of persons who composed the Church on the day when he became its pastor :
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
Captain Jas. Avery and wife. Captain Witherell.
William Douglass and wife. John Stebbins.
Mrs. Mannering. Mrs. Ann Latimer. Widow Leister.
Neh. Smith's wife.
Ensign C. Miner. David Caulkins,
Sarah Tyrrell. Mrs. Dennis.
David Leister and wife.
Joseph Becket's wife.
Dea. Joseph Coite and wife.
Widow Hempstead.
Robert Douglass and wife.
Lydia Bayley.
Captain James Avery.
Mrs. Starr.
Thomas Avery and wife.
Joseph Morgan's wife.
Goodwife Comstock,
Mary Sherwood.
Goodwife Dart.
Goodwife Geeres.
Mrs. Elizabeth Harris.
G. Saltonstall.
Thus the total membership at the opening of his pastorate was, including himself, thirty-four-twelve males and twenty-two females. Then follow the one hundred and forty-one names of those who were added between November 25, 1691, and August 3, 1707, when the last admissions during his ministry were recorded.
But there are entries among the records of baptism which seem to show that several other names should be put upon the list. For example, "February 4, 1694, Mr. Truman's daughters, they both professing faith in Christ," were baptized Mary and Ann. These were probably the daughters of Joseph Tru- man, who came to New London in 1667. February 18 of the same year it is recorded that "Mr. Ashby's 2 daughters made a profession of faith, owned the covenant and were baptized; the one Mary, the
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other Hannah." These were the daughters of Mr.
Anthony Ashby. Miss Caulkins says that "his two daughters, Mary and Hannah, united with the church in 1694."' The record of their baptism is the only one which tells that they were received into the Church. There are some reasons for believing that it was so meant. If they were received into the Church, so were the daughters of Mr. Truman, of whom the same record was made. To profess faith in Christ, and at the same time to be baptized, is now equivalent to joining the Church on the part of one who was not baptized in infancy.
There are several entries like the following : "Sam- uel Rogers, son of Joseph, owned the covenant, and was baptized Samuel." But these differ from the foregoing, in that the person is not said to have pro- fessed faith in Christ. It was Mr. Saltonstall's cus- tom to baptize adults who did not at the time make public profession of faith and join the Church. Mr. Samuel Rogers joined the Church April 9, 1699, four years after his baptism.
May 26, 1695, this entry was made: "Bro. David's Indian Jane made profession of the Christian faith, and taking hold of the covenant was baptized Jane." " April 23, 1699, John Young made pro- fession of the Christian faith owned the covenant & was baptized." "December 22, 1700, John
204 EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
Christophers made a confession of the faith owned the covenant and was baptized John ; his wife owned the covenant also ; they had at the same time their daughter baptized Elizabeth." He is recorded as having joined the Church about a year later, Novem- . ber 15, 1701. June 29, 1701, " George Way owned the covenant and was baptized himself and admitted to the Lord's Table, and also had his children bap- tized." He is recorded as having been received into the Church a little later. But in his case, and that of Mr. Christophers the confession of faith ended in complete Church membership. There may have been reasons for the delay which would fully explain it. "James Rogers, son of James, made profession of the Christian faith, owned himself under the bond of the covenant of grace, and thereupon was bap- tized." " December 28, 1701, Mary Covel professed publicly the faith, owned the covenant, and was bap- tized." "February 1, 1702, Elleph Chappell made pro- fession of faith and repentance and was baptized." " March 8, 1702 Ellenor Jennings made profession of the Christian faith and was baptized." "June 7, 1702 Rice's child" was baptized "his wife being in full communion with the church." Her name does not appear on our printed list; but this must be an oversight, as the above entry points to her member- ship in it. "October 25, 1702, Hannah Bahr and
2
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Mercy Manwaring made profession of faith and were baptized." "August 27, 1704 Mary, a mulatto, living at Jonas Green's, professed faith in Christ, owned the covenant and was baptized." "June 2, 1706, Thomas Willee made profession of faith, owned the covenant, and was baptized." These cases differ from the usual formula of the Half-way Covenant, in the statement that the candidate made public profes- sion of faith in Christ.
Mrs. Rice was a member in full communion say the records. Mr. George Way and Mr. John Chris- tophers were also. If their making profession of faith in Christ ultimately meant Church membership, there would seem to be good reason for saying that a similar entry pointed to the same Church relations in the case of Mary and Ann Truman, of Mary and Hannah Ashby, of brother David's Indian Jane, of John Young, of Mary Covel, of Elleph Chappell, of Elleanor Jennings, of Hannah Bahr, of Mercy Man- warring, of Mary the mulatto who lived at Jonas Green's, and of Thomas Willee, of each of whom it is recorded that they made profession of the Chris- tian faith, owned the covenant and were baptized. It is true that the practices of the times were some- what loose, and too much stress is not to be laid on entries like these just quoted. Nevertheless, such
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
records now would signify that the person was re- ceived into the Church. Therefore we believe that these fourteen names should be added to the list of those whom Mr. Saltonstall received into full commu- nion, after November 25, 1691, making the whole number 154.
Several records of baptism are worth noticing, as showing the custom of the times. They point unmis- takably to the practice of the Half-way Covenant. " December 29, 1691, Mr. Richard Christophers owned the covenant, and had his children baptized." He did not become a member in full communion till March 12, 1693. "October 4, 1692, the son of Adam Pickett, named John,"' was baptized, "and committed to the care of his grandfather, Daniel Wetherell."' "February 4, 1694, Sampson Horton's children" were baptized "on the right of his wife." She was not a member here, but may have been else- where. There are nearly one hundred entries, made by Mr. Saltonstall, which say that certain persons who were not in full communion, owned the covenant, and had their children baptized or were baptized themselves. April 12, 1696, a man from Norwich, whose name is not given, had a child baptized Mary, "his wife being a child of the church here, and owning the covenant." A number of entries are made in which men had children baptized on the
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wife's account who, as is sometimes stated, was in full communion. The following entry is also sug- gestive of a practice of those times. September 29, 1706, "John Stedman's children being presented by their grandmother John Fox's wife," who joined the Church in 1691. The following records, September 20, 1702, present still another phase of the baptismal question, and show how earnestly it was coveted for the children. "The wife of Mr. Ray being Mr. Manwaring's daughter and baptized here owned the covenant and had her three children bap- tized." "The wife of Mr. Wilson being Mr. Man- waring's daughter, and baptized here owned the covenant and had her child baptized." These are clear cases of the practice of the Half-way Covenant, and show that the baptized children of the Church were considered as within its pale, and entitled to some of its privileges. Men who were under censure were allowed to have their children baptized in the right of their wives. Thus May 26, 1700, James Avery, Jr.'s, child "in right of his wife, he being under offence." Persons who were guilty of gross sins were not allowed to present themselves or their children for baptism under the Half-way Covenant even, until they had made public acknowledgement of their sin and professed repentance therefor. Thus it is re- corded that Esther Swaddles, who was not a mem-
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